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Friday, 12 December 2008 |
WOAI NBC 4 San Antonio
By KELLEY SHANNON, Associated Press Writer
LIVINGSTON, Texas (AP) - Preschoolers on the Alabama-Coushatta reservation play beneath a leaky roof and beside aging emergency exits. Tribal members who seek treatment for diabetes and cancer at the nearby health clinic share the facetious warning, "Don't get sick after June" - money may run out for the year.
A tourist train once lured visitors and their dollars to the reservation but today sits idle in its tunnel, weeds choking the tracks. A once-grand outdoor amphitheater is falling apart.
These sad conditions worry Alabama-Coushatta leaders, but they say the American Indian tribe's history is proud and its destiny is hopeful. What they want now is the Legislature to help them relaunch a shuttered casino that drew big-spending gamblers to their remote East Texas land.
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